The Buena Agroindustry of Erva-mate was officially born in 2015 from the admiration of two friends for the symbol drink of the State of Rio Grande do Sul: the chimarrão. But our history and contact with yerba mate started long before that. As we are the children of farmers who have always cultivated yerba mate, living inside the herbs was our amusement park as children, a place where we “climbed” the plants, played with the small animals found and where the shade served as a roof while our parents worked. As time went by, this whole experience brought us closer and made us respect and admire mate herb, considering that, for us, in addition to the cultural symbolism of being the representative drink of our state and the people of the state, “ ilex paraguariensis ”was the source of work and income for our families and many other families in Ilópolis and in the Alto Vale do Taquari Region. In 2013, after contacting an academic work on “branding”, we acquired the same from its developer because he reached the points that we wanted our brand to achieve. Buena was developed taking into account the market analysis of the time and research on the traditions, customs and languages ​​of the people of Rio Grande do Sul for its positioning as a brand.
On June 1, 2015, we started our activities on an outsourced basis, focusing on sales in the State of Santa Catarina. On January 2, 2017, we inaugurated our own industry with modern equipment that contributes to extract the maximum quality from the excellent raw material that our employees provide us with. This year we also started our sales in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná.
In 2018, due to the organization, hygiene, traceability and food safety verified by laboratory analyzes, we received the Emater Certification of Good Production Practices, attending to the 157 items required to receive the Quality Label, the youngest company being receive the certificate by then.
Currently, of the more than 220 herbaceous plants based in Rio Grande do Sul, only 12 have Emater certification for good practices and Buena is one of them. Since then, we have continued with the modernization of our industry, with the strengthening of our sales team and with the registration of new employees, all to pursue the objective of providing our consumer with the best mate herb for his mate. The next few years, we believe, pose great challenges for the yerba mate production chain. The use of “ilex paraguariensis” for other purposes such as medicine, cosmetics, food, etc., tends to spread its benefits in Brazil and the world, making its consumption in various forms rise, together with its valorization. There will certainly be the necessary process of gourmetization to reach consumers of the new generations, new industrial processes will be created to achieve this purpose and new products will be available. However, the pleasure of enjoying a mate mate made with love and respect for our culture and history, regardless of the modernization that will come, will remain the same: priceless. The memories and memories provided by taking a mate are eternal and establish bridges that make us return to childhood, to the lap of parents, to the mate of the grandmother, to the mate of the grandfather and to many other places and special moments. Perhaps in the future the gourd will no longer be porongo and the metal pump. Perhaps consumption takes place further north or even on the coast. Maybe you hear a funk from the countryside and think you’re cool. Our only certainty is that the herb
mate will be universal. And Buena, how will you be after going through these challenges? It will be the same as the day it was conceived: with a lot of respect, love and responsibility, it will be making people taste! And that is our slogan. Yerba Mate Buena. Making the flavor of a people!